Anti-drunken driving billboard to go up

The following was published in The Desert Sun on January 17, 2001

Sheriff continues zero-tolerance message with Ramon Road sign

By Marie Leech

Cathedral City Police officers are trying to get the word out: Don't drink and drive.

The Riverside County Sheriff's Department will unveil a billboard Thursday warning people that drinking and driving can lead to murder.

The billboard features a hand holding a gun and reads "Murder one." Then it shows a steering wheel with a bottle of alcohol in front and reads "Murder too."

"The message is that they both kill," said sheriff's spokesman Ray Verdugo. "Either way, you're going to prison."

The billboards will be located on Ramon Road, just west of Date Palm Drive. It will remain there for several months and will then be moved to other high-traffic areas throughout the valley, Verdugo said.

The billboard is the fifth in a series of Sheriff Larry Smith's "zero-tolerance" anti-crime message that began in 1998.

All the billboards were created and produced by Gerald Sherman, special assistant to Smith.

"The reason I concentrate on billboards is because it's up and working 24 hours a day," Sherman said.

"It really helps. We've had a tremendous response from the domestic violence billboard."

The domestic violence billboard that reads "Domestic Violence ... Blueprint for Murder" was the latest of the "zero-tolerance" billboards. Before that, billboards for DUIs, methamphetamines and shooting guns in the sky were put up across the valley.

The billboard was sponsored by Fairway Outdoor Advertising and Tom Nowlan of Domino's Pizza.

Billboards are also becoming a popular way for law enforcement agencies across the nation to reach residents with important safety messages.

The valley billboards are based on the same anti-cocaine billboards that stood above some of Los Angeles' famous nightspots during the 1980s.

"The message is definitely getting out," Verdugo said.